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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>It's "Allergy" Season
daycarediva 10:47 AM 05-03-2016
dcg/4 came in last week. Runny nose, puffy eyes. "Allergies" her parents said. I disagreed but she did NOT meet the criteria to send home. Playing fine, acting fine. Low grade temp (99.2-99.9 all week).

This week- dcg's "allergies" are mysteriously gone AND everyone else has "allergies".
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JackandJill 11:03 AM 05-03-2016
Its amazing how contagious allergies and teething can be!
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EntropyControlSpecialist 06:11 PM 05-03-2016
Can you up your exclusion reasons?

For instance, mine are a constant runny nose, green/yellow nasal discharge, etc.

So, my Moms who all profess a sudden onset of "severe allergies" get told "I totally understand, however their allergies need to be under control with the use of an allergy medication prior to attending. I've had great success speaking with an allergist to get mine under control!" It makes them upset, but it also makes them realize that claiming illness symptoms as allergies isn't going to happen here.
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MunchkinWrangler 06:30 PM 05-03-2016
I have a parent who always says how much worse their own allergies are than their child's. I laugh and say but I'm not taking care of you! We all have 'allergies' here too.
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daycarediva 09:50 AM 05-04-2016
It has become apparent that a few of the children are coming down with colds. The symptoms are runny nose, post nasal drip, and cough. I have cleaned and disinfected our play area more frequently this week to help prevent the spread of illness. As a reminder, I exclude for symptoms of illness, not diagnosis. I am asking that you keep your child home if they have any of the following-elevated temperature, cough, persistent nasal drainage, or fatigue that causes them to be irritable and unable to participate in our busy days. In addition, if you suspect your child of having allergies, seasonal or otherwise, please refer to your pediatrician for symptom management and diagnosis. I will require a pediatrician form with diagnosis and symptoms, as well as a treatment plan before accepting your child into care.


Thoughts?
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Blackcat31 10:02 AM 05-04-2016
Originally Posted by daycarediva:
It has become apparent that a few of the children are coming down with colds. The symptoms are runny nose, post nasal drip, and cough. I have cleaned and disinfected our play area more frequently this week to help prevent the spread of illness. As a reminder, I exclude for symptoms of illness, not diagnosis. I am asking that you keep your child home if they have any of the following-elevated temperature, cough, persistent nasal drainage, or fatigue that causes them to be irritable and unable to participate in our busy days. In addition, if you suspect your child of having allergies, seasonal or otherwise, please refer to your pediatrician for symptom management and diagnosis. I will require a pediatrician form with diagnosis and symptoms, as well as a treatment plan before accepting your child into care.


Thoughts?


I require kids with allergies to have been diagnosed with such fro a Dr AND I require a written treatment plan to be on file for allergies.
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Unregistered 11:38 AM 05-04-2016
Allergies do not cause fevers. Personally I feel miserable with even a low-grade fever
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Thriftylady 05:39 AM 05-05-2016
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
Allergies do not cause fevers. Personally I feel miserable with even a low-grade fever
Well I will speak to this because my kids and I do have severe allergies. And we do sometimes get fevers from them. In fact one year I got a 105 fever! The issue is that the allergies can turn to sinus and ear infections, but in my experience until those infections get bad and present as infections, doctors will say "take the allergy meds and go home". It often isn't until later you can get a doc to do something. Sadly this is even worse in children, because they are not good at voicing to a doctor how they feel and what is going on, and that is if a doctor even speaks to them. Sadly some don't speak to the child at all. I have fought this over and over with myself and my kids and it really ticks me off. I was told my daughters allergies was a "snot nosed cold" for five years. No one has a cold that lasts for months on end! I wish now I had changed doctors, but you don't know what you don't know. When she was properly diagnosed, it changed our lives.

All that being said, we as providers have our policies and can and should enforce them. I tell parents who claim their child who has allergies my story, and encourage them to seek medical help for their child, including a specialist if needed. In some severe cases, I do what BC suggested and request a doctors note with treatment plan, because I believe children with allergies can and should be treated. There is no reason for them to suffer in misery.
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Unregistered 12:35 PM 05-05-2016
Originally Posted by Thriftylady:
Well I will speak to this because my kids and I do have severe allergies. And we do sometimes get fevers from them. In fact one year I got a 105 fever! The issue is that the allergies can turn to sinus and ear infections, but in my experience until those infections get bad and present as infections, doctors will say "take the allergy meds and go home". It often isn't until later you can get a doc to do something. Sadly this is even worse in children, because they are not good at voicing to a doctor how they feel and what is going on, and that is if a doctor even speaks to them. Sadly some don't speak to the child at all. I have fought this over and over with myself and my kids and it really ticks me off. I was told my daughters allergies was a "snot nosed cold" for five years. No one has a cold that lasts for months on end! I wish now I had changed doctors, but you don't know what you don't know. When she was properly diagnosed, it changed our lives.

All that being said, we as providers have our policies and can and should enforce them. I tell parents who claim their child who has allergies my story, and encourage them to seek medical help for their child, including a specialist if needed. In some severe cases, I do what BC suggested and request a doctors note with treatment plan, because I believe children with allergies can and should be treated. There is no reason for them to suffer in misery.
Not to be rude but the fever is from the sinus/ear infection, not the allergies.
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Thriftylady 01:07 PM 05-05-2016
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
Not to be rude but the fever is from the sinus/ear infection, not the allergies.
That is true, but doctors are slow to diagnose sinus infections until you get a fever sometimes. It is because they were over prescribing antibiotics and now they are trying to prescribe them. Many doctors will take a "wait and see" approach with both ear and sinus infections to try to avoid prescribing meds since neither are contagious. I have had a doctor tell me to call in three days if things didn't improve and then they would prescribe. I will say the doctor we have now will prescribe the first time I am in there, because he knows our history. But many will not.

So knowing that, what I am saying is that allergies can cause fevers, because the cause the ear and sinus infections. I never get either of the above if my allergies are not flared up.
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Tags:allergies, contagious, illness
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